The UUT - the Support group for the Victims of Religions - has asked the Ministry of Justice to study ways in which to intervene in the activities of closed religious communities. The group released a report Saturday on the Jehovah's Witnesses, which UUT claims uses its own internal judicial system with a board that interrogates members and hands down sentences for infractions.

Jehovah's Witness marketing material may sometimes show up in the mail.
Image: YLE / Mari Siltanen

The
report authored by UTT, the Support Group for Victims of Religions and
published Saturday claims that the Jehovah’s Witnesses religious group uses its
own internal tribunal known as a judicial committee, which questions members
about alleged wrongdoing and hands down sentences.

The
report indicates that persons who are alleged to have sinned are harassed,
bullied, publicly reviled and isolated from loved ones. The report is based on
the experiences of 18 former church members with the judicial
committee and their practice of ostracising errant church members.

The UUT
hopes its report will spur Justice Minister Anna-Maija Henriksson to
investigate and determine how to intervene in the church’s practices to protect members from
the threat of violence.

A closed
community

Jehovah’s
witnesses in Finland appear to lead a somewhat isolated existence within their
own communities. According to the report the church is part of a major global movement
about which there has been relatively academic research.

Jehovah’s
Witnesses are described as a religious movement that wields great influence
over its members and is said to possess "a rather rigid fundamentalist outlook".

The
report noted that the organisation behind the church is highly hierarchical and
tightly regulated from above. Elders in the church are said to possess a
handbook known as "Shepherd God’s Flock", and which ordinary members are not allowed
to read.

UUT
managed to obtain an English language version of the primer, which lays down
strict prescriptions for matters such as the operation of the judicial
committee. According to the Jehovah’s Witness doctrine, the literature
represents God’s teachings and must be treated with a corresponding degree of
seriousness.

Committee
passes judgment on "grave sins"

The
judicial committee itself comprises three elders, all of whom are men. Hearings are
conducted behind closed doors and are usually attended only by the accused and
the committee members.

The
judicial committee convenes when a church member is suspected of having
committed a grave sin. Such infractions include disputing the teachings of the
church, repeated acceptance of blood transfusions, participating in party
politics, celebrating Christmas or birthdays, smoking or murder. Repeated
infidelity is also just cause for a sitting of the committee.

Jehovah’s
Witnesses also cannot hide behind the shield of individual privacy, according to UUT. Congregation members may be
subjected to random home inspections to unearth evidence of sins such as
engaging in pre-marital sex. Judicial committee hearings dealing with sexual
offences often involve questions about intimate details of alleged sex acts.

Shunning a severe sentence

The
report claims the committee may in some cases hand down a sentence of shunning. In such cases the
community expels the offender and other congregation members are not allowed to
speak to or even greet the individual. Family members and relatives are also
encouraged to shun former church members. However shunning may not apply in
cases where family members live in the same household.

The aim
of shunning is to persuade offenders to return to the flock, but those who
do so must then undergo a humiliating repentance exercise which involves attending
services twice weekly for a month without being greeted by congregation
members.

Suicide a
path to freedom?

The UUT
report describes the activities of the justice committee and the practice of
shunning as exceptionally cruel and a violation of human rights. In some cases
offenders have suffered severe health problems or even attempted suicide.

However
persons who attempt suicide are not referred to the committee. According to the
teachings of the church attempted suicide is adequate expression of regret and
does not require intervention by the judicial committee.

According
to the UUT report Jehovah’s Witnesses are suspicious of higher education so elders
are not well-educated. The organisation said that this may be the reason why
elders do not fully understand the consequences of expulsion and shunning.

In spite
of the penalty of leaving the church, many members choose this option. A US study
involving a random sample showed that just 37 percent of children of Jehovah’s
Witnesses grew up to become members of the congregation.